Posted by : Dawn Grasty, Broker

                dgrasty@nc.rr.com, www.dgrasty.com

                919-210-5418

After successfully navigating through serious drought measures, Durham has settled on an innovative way to encourage its citizens to continue to be smart about their water usage.

Simply put, the less water you use, the lower your rate. They're calling it Tiered Water Rates.

The Durham City Council voted to implement rate increases while at the same time introducing a tiered rate structure designed to encourage single-family residents to conserve water. The lowest Super Saver Tier 1 will be given to customers who are the most efficient with their water us, reserving it for more essential needs. Less critical water use, such as irrigation, car washing, and filling pools, will likely bump you into a higher tier and cost more.

The new plan includes five tiers for single family residential customers. (All non-residential customers are set at the Tier 3 rate, and all irrigation accounts are set at the Tier 5 rate.) Water and sewer service charge increases are also included in the new structure.

It gets a little confusing in the calculation, but in general here's how it goes: The new rate tiers reflect what the City charges for a "unit" of water as shown on bills, which is 100 cubic feet, or 748 gallons. Remember, these rates do reflect an increased cost in general in both water usage itself, and the service charges associated with both water and sewer services.

So, since according to the city of Durham most residential customers fall in the Tier 3 range, using about 16 units over a two-month billing period, let's look at how that usage would be calculated. A customer using four units over the two-month period will be charged at the Tier 1 rate and see about an $11 increase in their total bill. A customer using 12 units over the bi-monthly period would be charged at the Tier 1 rate for the first two units of each month, at the Tier 2 rate for the next three units of each month and at the Tier 3 rate for the remaining unit used each month. This customer's bi-monthly bill would increase about $13.

Service charges for both water and sewer will also rise. These "base" charges cover the cost of meter reading and billing and other fixed costs of the water and sewer operations. For customers with 5/8 meters (primarily residential customers), service charges will increase from $2.58 per month to $5.11 per month for water and from $3.19 a month to $5.71 for sewer services.

Why did we have this increase? A city representative stated that the new rates will help pay for large capital projects including a new automated meter reading system, a new elevated water storage tank, additional water supply options (Teer Quarry and Jordan Lake), interconnections with other utilities and plant and system rehabilitation projects.

If you'd like to see a good estimate of your next bill (which should be August for monthly customers and September for bi-monthly customers), you can go to www.durhamsaveswater.org, where they have a handy calculator. You'll need to have your latest water bill handy, as it will require information from that.

 Also on their website, you will find a link to "The 111 Tips" that outline many simple, everyday changes that you can make to use water more efficiently. Or you can call Durham's One Call line at 919-560-1200.
 
With this new tiered structure, using less water will not only save you money, but will save Durham’s water resources, the environment, and our way of life. It was a little scary in that drought, and I for one don't want to go back there again!